Disabled Student Attacked at George County High School

A 14-year old special needs student is recovering after his mom says he was bullied and beat up at school. Austin Stokes has cerebral palsy, is paralyzed on one side of his body, and is partially blind. His mom, Lori Dees, says an older student called her son an offensive term and Austin threw a can of soda at him in return.

Dees says the older student then knocked her son to the ground and beat him up pretty bad: Austin’s eye was swollen shut, his tooth was chipped and he had several cuts and bruises. “I was walking out in the breezeway and I threw the coke can at the boy because he called me a retard. Then, the next thing out of the blue he punched me and lift me off the ground and I became airborne,” says Stokes.

The school says it cannot comment on what happened but Austin’s mom says the attacker was charged with simple assault. She believes the boy responsible for striking her son should face jail time. “I don’t know what Austin did, if he threw the can, or not, but either way nothing justifies what he did to Austin,” says Stokes.